RC 1/16 M3 Lee - early production tank - build

ronnie42 · Post by **ronnie42** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:15 pm

Nice write up and photos about the traverse and elevation and to prove it works a video

. Don't know why people spend money on one size fits all elevation/recoil units. Perhaps thats why HL and Taigen don't do small turret tanks , not able to make a smaller elevation /recoil with scale travel.

BarryC · Post by **BarryC** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:26 pm

Excellent Louis!

Barry

Post by **Jimster** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 10:02 pm

That’s excellent engineering. It was nice watching it in action on video.

PershingLover · Post by **PershingLover** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 1:16 pm

Amazing as alway! Quite odd, though, that all these kits have errors in them. Like you said, you can use a ruler!

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 1:37 pm

Thank you, with the most challenging aspects of the build figured out, i can now concentrate on a more peaceful completion and detailing of the kit.

This post is for the planning stage for the tracks, with a proof of concept.

The main reason a selected an old Mato plastic M4A1 chassis for this build is because of the superb T48 Sherman tracks coming with it. They have metal pins and connectors but with a plastic shoe. They are a lot lighter, flexible and easy to play with than their all metal tracks.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

Picture of a real T48 below.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build; Capture T48.JPG (35.11 KiB) Viewed 2913 times

However. the M3 Lee should be equipped with earlier T41 (D37889) tracks.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build; Capture.JPG (98.46 KiB) Viewed 2913 times

Picture of the real T41 below. They have flat rubber shoes.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build; Capture T41.JPG (32.5 KiB) Viewed 2913 times

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build; Capture T41a.JPG (30.66 KiB) Viewed 2913 times

So, let's make a few T41 tracks as proof of concept to check that i am not missing anything.

Contrary to their all metal tracks, the T48 are easily disassembled by pulling on one end connector. Nothing breaks and it can be put back easily. Love these tracks.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

Their chevron is a bit too thick so it is a good idea anyway to trim them even for a Sherman build.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

For this build, the chevron is completely removed, first with a new blade, sanding them flat after.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

To create the new rubber shoes, i purchased on ebay a small sheet of 1mm thick rubber for a few dollars, with speedpak shipping for a few more bucks. Can't go wrong with that.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

The sheet is easily cut into 9mm strips that can be used to produce 10 links each.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

Continuing on following post

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Oct 31, 2020 1:41 pm

The rubber pads are superglued to their plastic host, sanded on all side and surfaces for an integrated and worn out look.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

And here we have realistic T41 tracks for the M3 Lee tank. The proof of concept is a success. I have also purchased a 2mm rubber sheet just in case. I need to check the best options between 1mm or 2mm rubber pads. Brand new, these should be like 1.5mm thick, 1mm to 0.5mm is good for worn out tracks. Now, i will start an assembly chain whenever i feel like it... Something like 78 links per tracks.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

Regards, Louis

Manu-Military · Post by **Manu-Military** » Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:09 am

Though I'm not in to the RC stuff at all, I still find your build very inspiring.
And I wouln't have thought you would have had bothered with recreating the right tracls shoes.
Very good play indeed!

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Sun Nov 01, 2020 2:14 pm

Louis!
Good Morning! You are a Mad Man indeed! We would not know half of what was possible without your efforts on these builds. Top Drawer as always!
regards and following along,
Painless

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:56 pm

Thank you Manu and Painlesswolf,
Yeah, this build is not for everyone. It's a complex multi-media build with plastic, resin, polystyrene and brass components, it's also both a detailed scale model and RC. In the end, there will be not much left of the Vandra kit. But its also a cheap build. I will have a one of a kind RC M3 Lee tank for something less than $300 total, considering the reuse of the Clark TK40 board for multiple build. I am experimenting with new stuff but also use proven concepts from other built. It's fun and putting in the hours does not bother me. That's the point of the hobby.

Continuing with the build, one item at a time.

The Vandra M3 front fenders are installed on the Mato hull, they fit with the normal process of cutting off the old ones and preparing the plastic surface for them. They have a weakness at the front, having not much support on the exterior section. I put in a side to side brass rod as support to make them strait horizontal, it does not show under them and it provides much needed strength to the resin fenders.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

After the fenders are glued in place, the builder is left with quite a few issues and holes to fill with polystyrene strips. The way the removable upper hull sits on the lower hull need attention and fine tuning.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

The resin attachment to the transmission housing need to be totally redone for accuracy, solidity and overall better fit.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

I decided to replace the Vandra 37mm resin gun part by a homemade gun barrel done in brass and aluminum tubing. Sadly, it has no recoil. The Clark TK40 board has only 1 main gun recoil and it was given to the 75mm gun on the sponson.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

It looks better, more solid and more strait than the resin part which would not have lasted long as an RC model. I was afraid to break the resin gun just by touching it...

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

The Vandra driver's hatch was way undersized. It was obviously downsized to match the equally downsized top armored plate, squeezed between two rows of bolt heads. With the armored plate of the right dimension, it was obvious it needed replacement. Exact measurements for it were extrapolated from the Miniart kit. It was not made functional as the gun traverse servo is right on the other side.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

However, looking at the pictures of it, i am noticing a mistake that will need correction. The hinges at the top are going too high.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

As this is an early production M3 Lee, it needs a door on the right side as well. A copy of the Vandra door is being made.

: RC 1/16 M3 Lee early production tank - build

The visor hatch that was cut out earlier from the side armored plate is reinstalled directly on the door. Hinges are non functional and a best effort was made to copy the Vandra ones from the other door for consistency. The whole model is quite dirty with plastic and resin dusts, it needs a good cleanup before some finetuning is done.